FridgeCam lets you make your dumb fridge smart with a simple camera

Why replace an entire fridge when you can stick a camera inside the one you have?

Valentina Palladino

Ars at CES 2017

Video shot/edited by Jennifer Hahn.

LAS VEGAS—Companies love to debut as
many "smart" home products as possible at CES to show that Wi-Fi in
anything could make your life easier. LG is a perfect example as it just
announced a new smart refrigerator
(pricing info not disclosed yet) and the plan to put Wi-Fi in a number
of its connected appliances. But investing in the smart home doesn't
mean you have to drop thousands of dollars on a whole new fridge or
oven. At CES, the London-based company Smarter announced its new FridgeCam, a small circular camera you stick on the inner door of your refrigerator to monitor the food you have.

One of the most practical uses of any smart
fridge is the ability to see what food you have (and don't have) even
when you're not home. FridgeCam focuses on this: every time you close
the refrigerator's door, the FridgeCam snaps a photo of the contents
inside. That photo is instantaneously sent to your smartphone in the
Smarter app where you can pull it up when you're grocery shopping or on a
whim if you want to check your food supply. The camera and app combo is
smart enough to know when you finish a certain product, and it'll add
that item to your shopping list automatically. In addition, the app will
alert you to pick up needed items when you're out and near a grocery
store. But FridgeCam is also smart enough to know when you move food
around, so it won't get confused and add ketchup to your list when your
current bottle is just living on a different shelf.

In an effort to reduce food waste, Smarter's
app can keep track of food expiration dates, too. This feature will have
the app send you alerts when a certain food is close to going bad,
hoping you'll eat it and use it up before it becomes inedible. The
Smarter app also has a feature called Smarter Chef which suggests
recipes you can make using the food currently in your refrigerator. The
theory is that if you're given instructions on how to cook a good meal
using just the food you already have, you'll be more likely to use it
rather than buying additional food you don't currently need (or giving
up completely and ordering takeout).

It's kind of a bummer that the FridgeCam can't
provide a live look into your fridge like some smart refrigerators can
do, however that type of feature would drastically reduce battery life.
Since FridgeCam only takes photos and lies in sleep mode most of the
time, Smarter estimates it will last six months on a single charge. When
it needs more power, you can simply take the camera out of the fridge
and charge it via a USB Type C port. Considering its affordable
£100/$150 price tag, FridgeCam is a practical way you can invest in
making your home smarter without digging deep into your bank account
to replace an entire appliance. Smarter's FridgeCam will debut this
spring and is available for preorder now.

Listing image by Smarter

FridgeCam lets you make your dumb fridge smart with a simple camera
Reviewed by Bizpodia
on
04:19
Rating: 5